Formula 1: after his departure from Red Bull, Horner could be close to joining Alpine

The surprising departure of Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing shook the Formula 1 world, but few believe this is his definitive farewell from the paddock. His name had already been mentioned to lead Ferrari, but now some reports link him more closely to Alpine, the team where Franco Colapinto races.

"A couple of months ago, since the events in Bahrain last year, Christian's attitude has simply been: "let's move forward, everything continues as usual, I'm still in charge, we're going to get through this"," analyzed Ted Kravitz on Sky Sports F1.

He added: "And he has survived all of that. Since then, he received an approach from Ferrari, and if he had thought he wasn't going to survive(at Red Bull),  maybe he would have taken it a bit more seriously. But, with his family, with his three children, does he really want to move with all of them? Move to Italy alone? Take his children out of school? Move with his wife?"

Why Alpine seems like a more logical option

Kravitz stated that, for personal and also professional reasons, Alpine is a more realistic alternative: "I think that, for those personal reasons, and also because maybe he saw that reviving Ferrari (without speaking Italian and without fully knowing the environment)was too steep a hill to climb, Alpine presents itself as a much more viable option. Another team based in the United Kingdom, with Flavio (Briatore) there, and with a structure very similar to Red Bull's. In fact, a large part of Enstone and Milton Keynes are very connected"

"There are many people in Enstone who come from Red Bull and vice versa. It would be a much easier place to go. So, although the Ferrari option was tempting, especially a few months ago, knowing what was going to happen today, maybe he thought "maybe I should have accepted it". But I think he had already decided not to go to Ferrari. If Alpine is on the table, it's a much more convenient path," the journalist concluded.

The analysis of a former driver on Horner's future

Karun Chandhok, former Formula 1 driver and also commentator for Sky Sports, agreed that Alpine seems a more logical destination for Horner: "I agree with everything above. Those rumors about Ferrari were always circulating, right? Over the last decade, the 'Christian to Ferrari' always came up. I think a Christian–Newey duo would have been a much more attractive proposal for them"

He added: "Personally, it seems much more likely to me that he ends up at Alpine than at Ferrari. I think Ferrari will try to build its own path"